Affordable Housing:  History, Highlights & Initiatives

Burlington's affordable housing agenda is built around 3 "P's":  Protection of the vulnerable, Preservation of existing affordable housing, and Production of new affordable housing.  Below are a summary of initiatives in each area, and a chart showing historical highlights.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING INITIATIVES
CITY OF BURLINGTON
As of October 2005

Protection of the Vulnerable:

• Housing discrimination ordinance: expanded the protected classes to include sexual orientation, receipt of public assistance, presence of minor children.
• Accessibility program: offers grants, loans and TA for making accessibility modifications in homes of low and moderate-income tenants and homeowners.
• Minimum Housing Inspection Program: Created Vermont’s first municipal rental housing health and safety inspection program.
• Security Deposit ordinance: limited deposit to one-month’s rent, placement in interest-bearing account, and required return or explanation for amount withheld in 14 days. Tenants can recover deposit through Housing Board of Review.
• Condo Conversion: for all buildings larger than a duplex, seller must provide at least 2-year notice of intent to convert to condos, with elderly and disabled tenants getting 4-years notice. Tenants have right of first refusal and City can purchase units for affordable housing.
• Just Cause Eviction: failed ballot measure would have protected lease-abiding tenants from lease non-renewal or eviction for no cause.
• Family Shelters: City donated former fire station for homeless family shelter and helped fund creation of new shelter at the YWCA.
• Housing Replacement Ordinance: City requires replacement of all housing units lost through conversion or demolition (including demolition by neglect). Several options for replacing the units, but new units must be restricted to 65% Area Median Income for at least 10 years.
• Transitional Housing Program: Created permanent and transitional housing programs and developed/rehabilitated properties to serve people with special needs, including homeless women, families, youth and single men (St. John’s Hall, Sara Cole House, Hotel Wilson, Monroe Place, Safe Haven, Spectrum, among others).
• Housing Vouchers: With strong City support, Burlington Housing Authority aggressively pursued every single new voucher available through HUD's various competitive programs in the 1990s - total vouchers were 550 in 1995, and today BHA has 1,700, of which half are used in apartments outside of Burlington.
• Burlington Lead Program: secured HUD funds to launch city-wide lead-based paint hazard reduction program to protect health of low-income children under age 6.
• Greater security of tenure for renters: City charter change increased required notice to tenants without written leases facing eviction for no cause to 90 days for tenancies under two years and to 120 days for tenancies over two years; tenant move-out notice to landlords increased to 60 days; landlord notice of rent increase increased to 90 days.

Preservation of Existing Affordable Housing:

• Home Improvement Program: Community & Economic Development Office created program to repair and rehab older homes – funds targeted to lower-income areas. Hundreds of units assisted.
• Overhaul Minimum Housing Program: Updated code and developed systems to collect data and property information, and improve code enforcement.
• Burlington Community Land Trust founded: Nation’s first CLT launched by a municipality. Perpetual affordability becomes city and state policy. Hundreds of rental units rehabilitated and affordability preserved. Hundreds of single-family homes made affordable forever.
• Lake Champlain Housing Development Corp. founded: Regional housing development corporation focused on rental rehab and expanding affordable housing in the suburbs.
• Anti-Speculation tax: Voters approved measure designed to chill a hot real estate market where property values were escalating due to “flipping” of rental properties solely for the sake of quick profit. Legislature killed this effort.
• Northgate Task Force: City created this group to preserve Vermont’s largest affordable rental housing development – tenant-controlled nonprofit bought Northgate 2 years later and it remains premier affordable housing community.
• Apartment Registration Fee Ordinance: Created system where landlords are charged an annual registration fee (much like motor vehicle registration) in order to operate a comprehensive rental housing inspection program.
• Housing Trust Fund: One penny on every $100 of property value (presently generates about $190,000 annually) passed by voters to create and preserve perpetually affordable housing. Allows project and operating grants for nonprofits.
• VT Co-operative Housing Act: played leadership role in creation of first state statute enabling co-operative ownership of multi-family housing as a bridge between renting and single family home ownership. · Vacant Building Ordinance: Requires permit and $500 fee every 90 days for any building that has been vacant for at least 90 days without either a building permit for rehab or a bona fide sales effort underway.
• Energy conservation bond: Burlington Electric Department issued $11 million bond to make energy efficiency improvements in residential and commercial buildings, lowering energy costs for homeowners, landlords and renters.
• Time of Sale Energy Efficiency Ordinance: Requires that all rental properties undergo an energy audit and an accompanying energy efficiency plan prior to sale. Improvements must be made according to plan within 1 year of sale.

Production of New Affordable Housing:

• A strong network of nonprofit housing developers have added over 2000 new units of affordable housing in Burlington and environs between 1985-2005.
• Linkage at Howe Meadows: Private developer required to provide land donation for creation of 40 moderately-priced homes – some BCLT homes.
• South Meadow Housing Development Action Grant (HoDAG): City secured federal grant to make 40 out of 150 new apartments affordable. To lock in affordability, City and nonprofits hold purchase option in 2012.
• Housing Trust Fund: HTF first local funding resource for production of new units.
• Mini-Act 250: City adopts local Act 250 review, includes housing impact as review criterion.
• Salmon Run HoDAG: City secured federal grant to create 80-unit mixed-income development.
• Inclusionary Zoning (IZ): First (and only) municipality in VT requiring developers to set aside a certain percentage of new units as affordable. In Burlington, between 15% and 25% of all new units must either be priced for sale to households at or below 75% Area Median Income or rent to households at or below 65% of Area Median Income. Over 100 units created.
• Density & Lot coverage Bonuses: The “builders’ remedy” to make up for lost revenue from affordable units.
• Impact Fee Waivers: 25% of impact fees waived for moderate-income units; 50% waived for IZ units, 100% for units serving households below 50% AMI.
• Parking Waivers: Number of spaces required for IZ and other affordable units is typically 50% of requirement, i.e. one space per unit.
• Technical Review & Development Review Board: Panel of municipal staff provide early feedback at conceptual stage of project. DRB provides review that is consolidated from 2 previous boards.

BURLINGTON HOUSING HIGHLIGHTS: 1983-2001